NEW DELHI, 17 July 2026: Kharif crop sowing across India remained below last year's level as of July 10, with the total area sown reaching 531.25 lakh hectares, down by 101.44 lakh hectares compared to 632.69 lakh hectares during the same period in 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.
The delayed southwest monsoon has impacted sowing across most major crops, particularly oilseeds, coarse cereals, pulses, rice and cotton. However, sugarcane and jute & mesta recorded marginal gains over last year.
Among foodgrains, rice was sown over 114.69 lakh hectares, compared with 125.53 lakh hectares a year earlier, a decline of 10.84 lakh hectares. Rice acreage, however, remained 16.95 lakh hectares above the normal average.
Pulses covered 56.63 lakh hectares, down by 17.22 lakh hectares from last year's 73.85 lakh hectares. Arhar, urd and moong all registered lower sowing, although moong acreage remained above the normal level.
Area under Shri Anna (coarse cereals) declined by 28.61 lakh hectares to 98.69 lakh hectares. Maize and bajra accounted for the biggest declines, with maize acreage falling by 13.59 lakh hectares year-on-year.
Oilseed sowing witnessed the steepest drop among major crop groups. Farmers planted oilseeds on 117.83 lakh hectares, compared with 149.18 lakh hectares last year, a decline of 31.34 lakh hectares. Soybean and groundnut accounted for most of the reduction, with soybean acreage falling by 17.21 lakh hectares and groundnut by 12.05 lakh hectares.
Cotton area also declined sharply to 79.54 lakh hectares, down 14.41 lakh hectares from the previous year and 16.28 lakh hectares below the normal area.
In contrast, sugarcane acreage increased slightly to 57.58 lakh hectares, up 0.86 lakh hectares from last year and 2.36 lakh hectares above the normal area. Jute and mesta also recorded a marginal increase to 6.28 lakh hectares, compared with 6.16 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.
Despite the current shortfall, agriculture officials expect sowing to gain momentum as rainfall improves across major agricultural states during the remainder of July. The Centre has already advised farmers in delayed monsoon regions to shift towards short-duration and low water-intensive crops while ensuring adequate seed availability and crop advisory support.
